To casually mention to my neighbour about his coughing

[Coughing79]

A new neighbour has recently moved into the flat below me. He's about 35. I've noticed that he literally coughs every few mins and unfortunately I can hear it. I was hoping it would be a cold or flu thing he has and that it would eventually stop but it's been like this for a couple weeks.
I will be reading quietly in my bedroom and all of a sudden get startled by his coughing. I'm finding it really triggering and it's irritating me .
It's a really awkward one as coughing is involuntary but that doesn't make it any less annoying for me.
I can't move as I have another year left on my lease. I've bought noise cancelling ear plugs from Amazon.
Would it be really bad if next time I get talking to him ,I asked if he is ok, as I notice he has been coughing quite a lot? Hoping that this will maybe make him try and be a bit quieter or something.
Or do I just learn to live with this.

You can cough into things surely to muffle the sound

I think you really shouldn’t mention it ever, I am asthmatic and luckily we are in a detached house now, but the cold I started with 4 weeks ago has caused me to cough a lot especially at night. I am sure neighbours heard me in other houses I lived in.

The poor man can’t help it.

I have cough variant asthma

If you expected me to cough more quietly when I am trying to find my inhaler and struggling to breath I would think you were nuts

So in answer to your OP yes you learn to live with the sound of other people in the world coughing

I don't know, could be a different version of liking the sound of their own voice 🤣

Ohh, you are serious about speaking to him to get him to make less noise

Don't.

2 weeks is nothing for a cough, my last one was 10 weeks after a chest infection

Do you have carpet in your flat?

Would it be still unreasonable to mention it to him in a few months?

Yes, it would.

Maybe he had copd or worse. Of all the things to complain about(about noise from neighbours), this is not one of them.

I'm finding it really triggering

Good god I’ve heard it all now.

I'm on day 90 of the "100 day" cough.

Seriously, I've been coughing for bloody weeks. I've been on antibiotics which has made it better but sometimes it seems never-ending. I feel bad enough as it is and would be mortified if a neighbour mentioned it so please don't.

@AnotherAdventFridge yes I have carpet

Another one with cough variant asthma. I can assure you that I love coughing to the point that I sound like I have whooping cough & frequently end up vomiting because of it.
What would you suggest I do when I'm struggling to breathe?

I'm glad you said it, I would love to know how

'He could cough into something to muffle the sound.' Really? Spasms of coughing are involuntary, and can easily become choking sounds. I know - like I said, I had it, and it was dreadful trying to catch my breath.

Why should he have to muffle the sound in his own property. You're being incredibly rude and entitled. Yes, it may be annoying, but he isn't doing it on purpose, you know.

YABU. I assure you he is far more annoyed by it than you are. Just be grateful you're not the one coughing all the time. A really bad cough can have you struggling to breathe and that can feel quite scary.

My Mum has lung disease and coughs very loudly, very frequently. She can’t help it and couldn’t muffle the sound as she’s struggling to get enough air in as it is because half of her lungs are clogged. He may have something similar or something like CF.
You would be very unreasonable to complain.

Trust me op he knows someone lives above him. We all know that if you need to do a big cough, you can't be quiet or not cough. Either he has a long term condition like sarcoidosis which causes chronic coughing and most likely complications of it will cause death; he may alternatively have a coughing tic; or he may just be taking a bit longer than usual to recover from a seasonal illness. There's nothing he can do. I'm sure it's a bit bothersome but think yourself lucky he's not playing loud bass music.

Ah yes the delightful cough until you vomit attacks

But don't worry because we are now supposed to suffocate ourselves by covering our mouths with something to smother the sound we will be dead before we get to the vomiting stage at least...

Some people really do think that those with chronic illnesses and disabilities should be hidden away from society so that the sight/sound of their conditions don't annoy anyone don't they!

Shout “Die quietly, you bastard! “ through his letterbox?

my own child finds her chronic cough horribly embarrassing. She has a medical condition and we have seen every specialist available. We do every therapy and she is fully treatment compliant.

if a neighbor came and complained, she would be mortified and honestly i would be angry. It’s a cough. She knows she has a cough.

the person coughing isn’t doing it for fun. The chronic cougher knows that the cough is annoying. They are likely losing sleep and are miserable because it hurts. Just leave your poor neighbor alone.

I think some people are being unnecessarily harsh on the OP. She knows coughing is involuntary, but that doesn't stop hearing a constant cough through the floor any less irritating!

I am a thoughtful, empathetic person, but at the same time I am highly sensitive to noise and I'm easily irritated by noises which routinely interrupt my peace and quiet, regardless of what the noise is and if it's deliberate ).

I wouldn't mention it to them (little they could do about it), if it carries on and on, I think you'd have to move if it was still irritating you.

😂😂😂

Haha! Is that you Kitty? 😂

I'm finding it really triggering

triggering how?
He coughs and you?

Anyway another here with asthma coughing thingy. You cant stop coughing cos someone is triggered, you cant cough into something because asthma ,man we already feel like we're dying, just leave us be. Add a seasonal cold and frankly I'm about dead, I dont like being unable to get my breath for the coughing.